ATC, Sky Ranch Tagaytay, Glorietta 4: a Busy but Relaxing Long Weekend with Baboo Peter

I booked a flight to Cagayan de Oro earlier this year for Oct. 26-31. I was thinking that since baboo is always busy with work, I might as well spend time with some of my friends I rarely see. The thing is they live so far away. But what's an hour of plane ride and a few hours of commute to the City of Golden Friendship if only to see them, right? 

Well, a lot of things happened in between. For one, I didn't expect to be attending training for NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) plus the heavy workload that fell onto my lap. To cut the story short, I had to cancel my intended CDO vacation and just make the most of the holiday. Honestly, with everything going on in my life, I totally forgot that it was a long holiday (Oct. 28 being the day for Barangay elections). So I guess that's where the silver lining was in all of this. At least I got to spend three happy whole days with my baboo. He was available to me, for my pleasure, at my beck and call (hehe) for 72 hours and I wasn't going to let those precious hours just pass me by.  But the thing was, WE DIDN'T MAKE ANY PLANS AT ALL. Oh bugger!

Fortunately, my baboo was very easy to please. If I am the O.C. type who prefer scheduling every last minute detail of whatever plans we have, baboo Peter is the opposite when it comes to domestic/marital/personal matters. He loves to chill and just relax and just let everything flow. So having had my Breaking Through Barriers (BTB) training with Train Station a month ago (while baboo Peter had his a few weeks ago), we learned to adjust to each other's preferences. That's what you call second positioning. It's when you take on the position of the other person, immerse yourself in the way he/she thinks and feels and from there, get an insight as to how he/she is thinking, feeling and seeing things. So in short, we came at a compromise and it all came out naturally and subconsciously, meaning, without even trying so hard like how we used to do it before we had the BTB training. 

So, what happened was, we both let everything flow while still maintaining some sort of schedule for the long weekend. 

Oct. 26

Seafood Ilsand, ATC

We stayed in bed most of the day. It wasn't until late afternoon that we showered and dressed up, hoping to catch a movie. 

But then what do you know, it's been a while since I last prettified myself and I was just being so slow. So we got out of bed, prepared for our date and got out of the house early evening, decided to just splurge on dinner and just do the movie date another day. 

Kayaking in Nasugbu and Tagaytay Food Trip

Sept. 20, 2009… a week before typhoon Ondoy devastated Luzon. It was a quiet, sunny and wonderful day. Peter and I thought it was a good day to go out of town and spend some quality time together. Since we only had two days to spare (Monday was considered a holiday), we decided to go somewhere near and fun. So we thought of heading to Tagaytay and Nasugbu.

 Upon reaching Tagaytay proper, we noticed that the sky was getting dark, cold and foggy. Our first reaction was a big “OH NO!!!”. It also began to drizzle so we decided to stop somewhere for lunch to think about whether we’re pushing thru with our plan to kayak in Nasugbu or not.

 We found this nice looking restaurant, BALI SEAFOD PALUTO. It was cozy with native and wooden designs. And they offer delicious Pinoy dishes too.

Taj of Tagaytay

I know we rented the tent for an overnight accommodation at Munting Buhangin but because we've had enough of their beach and it was really warm that night, we decided to go home instead. At least we'd be sleeping in our comfy bedroom and waking up the next day to a beautiful house... our house. Hehehe.  Maybe I'm just so used to having a room with airconditioning with all the other amenities I need like TV, nice bathroom, radio, sockets for our PSP, charging of phones and cameras, ipod speakers and of course, a lamp for me to read my book. Or maybe I'm just being a bitchy pampered little princess. Hmmm...  Anyway, we packed our stuff and headed to Tagaytay.  On our way back that night, we saw this wonderful Indian restaurant called TAJ and we decided to check their menu for some delightful Indian cuisine...

 I liked the place! I might copy some of their designs for our lanai back home. Teehee. 

  

Munting Buhangin Nasugbu Getaway

Like I said we were supposed to head to Calatagan and visit this place I found online --- White Castle Resort. The pictures I saw really seemed so grand. But when we got there, the place was so small, the pool was greenish and there were no visitors! To think it was summer and I expected the place to be fully-booked! I would've considered it if the beach was somehow ok but it wasn't! Black sand is fine by me and Peter. But black sand with soil and rocks... no, no, no! So off we went back the opposite direction and headed to Nasugbu instead. We wanted to see the other coves there. But as luck would have it, Peter was not able to gas up Zach and we were afraid (well, I was afraid actually, while Peter insisted the car can make it) that we might not be able to have the luxury to go resort-hopping and find what suits us. So, we ended up in one of our old fave beach hang out --- Munting Buhangin Beach Camp which shares the same beach as Terrazas de Punta Fuego. Not bad. Not bad at all.

RMS Lutong Bahay in Tagaytay

  

It's been so long since  Peter and I last went out on a road trip... just me and him, traversing the exciting southern road, not really knowing where to go. Most of time as you've noticed, we always go out with our friends and relatives. Aside from the fact that this makes the trip more affordable since costs are divided among the group, it also makes it more fun. However, Peter and I needed some "alone" time to just be (actually, we need a lot of private time together to compensate for our opposite work schedules) . So last weekend, after my shift at my PA job,which ended at 6am, off we went farther down south feeling our way to where we want to go. We had a room booked at White Castle Resort in Calatagan, Batangas which I googled online. But we didn't really push thru with it. The pictures were great online but the real place sucks...eeewwww!) . 

 

Wakeboarding at Lago de Oro and Tagaytay Side Trip

We had plans of spending the long weekend that passed (Feb. 23-25) in Siquijor or somewhere we've never been to. However, being new parents to Sam, we couldn't just up and leave anytime we want especially when she has a date with her Vet on the same weekend (Feb 24). So the next best thing to do was to make the most out of the situation. Peter wanted to try wake boarding again, I wanted to just relax with our friend Ella, chill and be away from the computer for a while. So we opted to visit Lago de Oro again then headed to Tagaytay for dinner.

There's the wake boarding complex behind us, powered by cable wire system...

Getting our day trip tickets...

Punta Fuego in Nasugbu - MDP Day 1

To cap off the grueling management training we had for 6 months, all 39 of us were treated to a 3days/2nights stay at Club Punta Fuego with a side trip at Terrazas Punta Fuego. Our journey started two Saturdays ago, Sept. 22, 2007. Our class gathered in the office as early as 6:30 am. And in an hour, the gang was already on its way to Nasugbu, Batangas. Everyone was excited as we anticipated what was in store for us. We heard that this trip had a P400k ++ budget and of course, we couldn't be any happier. Since many of us just finished submitting our business cases the day before, the long drive down south was a perfect escape from all the sleepless nights we've had during the last few days of the training program. 

 

 "Sakay na!"

In two hours or so, we thought we've already arrived at our destination when we were awaken by the stopping of the bus. Lo and behold, we stopped over at Taal Vista, which is also an affiliate of Punta Fuego. I've been there before but thiswas the first time I saw this place covered with fog. It was soooo cold! You'd think we were in Baguio! Of course, we all went down to take a look around and enjoy the place in the company of newfound friends. 

 

  

       

Just before lunch, we arrived at the function hall of Club Punta Fuego where we took our lunch. The view of the rocky shore down below and the outline of mountains from afar were breathtaking! Although it wasn't quite the picture I had in mind,  it was spectacular nonetheless.

 

 

  

 

We then had our bags taken by the concierge to our respective rooms (which we didn't see until later that evening, after dinner) and then lunch was served...

 

Dishes were standard hotel food. They're not that spectacular... just the usual salad, soup, fish, pork, rice and dessert.  But since we were all hungry, pwede ne rin. Teehee.

   

The rest of the afternoon was spent in this one unique activity where we all had to pretend that a dinosaur was after us (for motivation purposes) and the only way for each of us to escape death was to cross this hole without touching its edges, one by one, lest we become fried dinner for the huge reptile due to electrocution. It seemed quite impossible at first, but with Dojie's leadership, Jason's assistance, Reji's, Cecil's, Lai's and Alma's flexibility,  the brilliant minds of Belen, Maricel & Ireen and the strength of Chubby, Michelle, Lloyd, Cas, Jason, Edwin, Dexter, Gene, Deity and the rest of the boys, and without the cooperation of everyone, we wouldn't have passed this complicated physical and mental test (after 4 hours or so). Whew!!! So imagine how ecstatic we were when the last person got in the hole successfully! To think that we could've stayed there forever until we figure out the whole thing. 

Finally, we can eat! Hehehe.  It was just after dinner when we went and saw our respective rooms for the first time. It was not just an ordinary hotel room. It was a Casita. There were two beds (one of which was shared by my roommates Maricel and Val while I had the other one all to myself and my stuff, hehehe), a glass door with a view of the cliffs and ocean, a big bathroom with an outdoor zen garden (creepy), a TV with Dream Cable, mini bar and ref. It was perfect!
 

 

  

 

I freshened up a bit and joined some of the gang for a night cap of brandy and beer, dancing and some personal bonding... It was one of the happiest moments of my MDP life. Thanks guys! *sniff!*

 

 To be continued...

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